Unexpected
by Overworkedunderwhelmed
Summary: Marinette had trained for almost a decade, but not even an endless parade of Akuma - and an equally endless stream of puns - had really prepared her to answer this call.
1. Chapter 1

Notes:

This is my 500 follower Thank you! fic for Freedom_Shamrock!

Life has had me busy, so I've had to puzzle this one with not nearly enough time to write. I have started into the second chapter, and hope to keep this story short...but I have such an awful track record in puzzling out how long any of my stories may go. :D

* * *

Whenever anyone asked for help, Marinette never hesitated to answer the call.

It was why she didn't hesitate to pick up the phone that day, just as she was leaving her classes at the University. It was why she'd called her own mother as she hustled across the campus, letting her know that something had come up.

When it was one of her old classmates - who had been there through some of the craziest times - coming to her own aid on either side of the mask far too many times?

There was very little she wouldn't do for any one of them.

Even Chloe.

She sprinted to the tall apartment complex where her friends now lived, just a few blocks down from her own apartment. Even as she had to run up the steps, she hadn't been winded in the least.

All of the hours she spent racing across the rooftops made all of that a breeze.

Smiling, Marinette knocked on the door, shifting anxiously on the balls of her feet.

She didn't have to wait long, but she definitely had to look up. It was hard not to. Ivan had grown at least another half a foot since she'd seen him last.

But the tiny toddler nestled in his arms was new. His tiny thumb planted firmly in his mouth, round eyes watching her with a mix of interest and concern, even as his tiny head head was half-buried into his Father's well worn metal t-shirt.

He breathed an audible sigh of relief, toddler still cradling gently against his broad chest as he picked up bag after bag near the door. "Thank you so much for doing this, Marinette!"

"No problem." She bit her lip, accepting each one he'd handed to her. "Are you both ready?"

Ivan's grin was rueful, as the little one in his arms fussed. "Probably not. But this little one seems just as impatient as his brother." He bounced the little boy in his arms, his fluffy shock of dark hair bouncing half a beat behind with each lift. "Mylene is already at the hospital and her father is on the way back from Nice now...It's just so much earlier than we thought."

"Don't worry, Ivan." Marinette patted his arm. "She'll be fine. Mylene has always been a lot stronger than she looks."

"She just has to be so scared." He dragged his free hand over his face, crestfallen. "I know I am."

Marinette smiled, holding her arms out. "Which is why she needs you there beside her. Right?"

Ivan smiled sweetly, picking up and handing her bag after bag.

"Bottles are in the green bag, as is a bit of formula and the soap to clean it. I have a list in there for all that he'll eat without a whole lot of fuss. Diapers and wipes are in the blue bag, along with all his outfits."

Marinette nodded, her eyes growing far too wide. So much stuff, for such a little one?

"I think there's a bit of detergent in there as well…" He grimaced, shaking his head. "If not, we'll reimburse you later if need be."

With evident practice, he showed her how to strap the carrier onto her chest and nestled the tiny, fussing toddler into it.

Marinette nodded, a little breathless as she mentally replayed all of the instructions in her own mind, gently still bouncing a bit on her heels to help soothe the little boy. "O-okay. Got it."

Relief flooded his features, as Ivan scooped up his keys and his phone, and another two bags for himself tugging the door shut behind them both.

"I'll call later to check in, if you have anymore questions."

Leaning down, Ivan pressed a gentle kiss to his one year old's tiny forehead. "G'bye, _mon petit loup_. Be good, for _Tata_ Marinette."

The pair of them watched out the hallway window as Ivan scrambled down the steps under the weight of a few heavy bags, the downstairs door slamming noisily shut on his heels.

She stared down at the little boy, his lips growing into a trembling pout as his father jumped into the waiting cab.

Aptly, he howled in protest, beating his tiny fists against her chest. "Papa! Papa!"

She blew out a ragged breath as Tikki phased out of her bag to meet her gaze.

This was _not_ the type of battle she'd ever trained for.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Big thanks to Lahiffed for help in coming up with this little one's name! :D


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien stretched, before peeling out onto the rooftop balcony of his apartment. He had been roped into a month long trip to China for Gabriel between the semesters and was able to finish up his finals before he left.

He had been anxious to get back to Paris – and his Lady – but the extra income that would afford him such a prime and surreptitious entrance to the rooftops was well worth the brief inconvenience. The Gorilla had dropped him off at home, despite his father's insistence that they all dine at the Main house tonight.

But Adrien had far too much he needed to catch up on.

Starting with a sprint across the rooftops.

He had slipped Plagg a wheel of Camembert into his bag.

Ladybug had more hands available with all of the villains who rose up over the years. Even Alya helped where she could in tracking down information from the civilian side of things. It was clear from the night Ladybug called her up to the rooftops to meet them, that Alya had earned her trust. And Alya had been ecstatic to help.

If there was such a demanding villain causing issues, as Hawkmoth had while terrorizing the citizens, he would not have dared to leave. But the current villain was not much more than an inconvenience.

Chat Noir was sure that Alya had isolated a likely four-block radius the villain must have been operating out of. Now it was more a matter of concocting a novel attack approach that would simultaneously give them the advantage of surprise and help them take him down for good.

They just weren't in that big of a hurry when his powers were low enough to not cause too much harm.

When one villain was conquered, another one stood ready in the wings to take his (or her) place.

It was why, even after all this time, he still didn't know the girl behind the mask.

Well, his mind amended, it was more likely that she was fully grown, just as he was. His body was still limber, but he didn't take the landings nearly as well. And he was just as sure that he had noticed the slight changes in her height.

Or just how well her suit fit her curves.

He hoped anyone who might spot him might mistake the blush he was sure now stained his cheeks for the wind rushing past his face.

Chat stopped, scrubbing a clawed glove over his face to halt his own thoughts before they went down a path that was never ideal in skin-tight, magical leather.

It was pure luck that he spotted a familiar face.

Well. Her hairstyle, really. He'd recognize those pigtails anywhere.

Shaking his head, he gathered his focus, vaulting down to the ground just a few feet in front of her.

Chat definitely wasn't expecting the sobbing tot strapped to her chest.

He had _only_ been gone the one month, right?

Marinette's pale blue eyes were wide. "Chat Noir! When did you get back in town?"

He blinked, before delivering a typically evasive answer. "Just a bit earlier."

She bounced on her heels, cooing a bit to hush the little one in the carrier, holding one of his little hands with her finger.

Chat Noir frowned, tugging the bags off her shoulders, so she could soothe the little one more effectively. "I know I was away for a bit…but just how long was I gone?"

Marinette snorted, rolling her eyes.

He was once again struck by just how much more freely his friend acted around him while she was interacting with him from behind his mask.

"This is Louis Bruel." Her tone was dry.

Chat Noir's eyes narrowed. That name was definitely familiar, even as he had to pretend not to recognize it. "A friend's child?"

"His parents were old classmates of mine." Marinette nodded, resettling her backpack on her now freed up shoulder. "They had a bit of an emergency. His mom went into labor almost a month early. They had plans, but nearly everyone else is away at the moment."

The mention of his parents had big tears welling up in Loup's eyes, his tiny face screwed up to squall anew.

Of course, the little boy was facing out in his carrier, so Marinette couldn't really notice.

Chat Noir leapt into action, crouching down to the little one's eye level, and tapping his bell with his claw. "There, there now. Not to worry."

Loup's eyes got big, staring and grabbing up at the shiny object with chubby little hands.

Chat smiled, fascinated by the little boy's captivated reaction. "Let me help you get everything back to wherever you were headed."

He'd expected the look of amazement on the little one's face, pleased with his own quick save.

But little else was more satisfying than the matching look of amazement on Marinette's face.

Except for the sweetly serene smile that took its place.

He felt his face flush. Just as quickly, he dropped the bags to the ground to root around for a favorite toy Ivan and Mylene had no doubt packed.

* * *

Marinette bit her lip, as Chat fell into step beside her. It was too hard not to find her partner's antics endearingly adorable on a good day, even as he had grown from the boy he'd clearly been to the young man rifling through the diaper bag in front of her.

She knew she spotted more than one cell phone camera out, which would inevitably lead to more questions from Alya as those photos were submitted to the Ladyblog.

But watching him soothe the fitful little charge left a warmth in her belly that she didn't dare put a name to.

Not while she still held out hope that something might come from her unrequited feelings for a certain blonde model. But Adrien was travelling and pulled away for photo shoots so often, that she had been lucky to meet up with him every few weeks.

Sure there were group chats. And the occasional memes. As the years went by, it had only gotten easier to talk to him. To see the glimmers of his humor, the imperfections behind the gloss.

But not one bit of it was ever able to change her mind. It was only her own self doubt of her feelings as her punny partner had weaseled his way into a corner of her heart that kept her actions in a near-permanent state of limbo.

She sighed heavily, mussing Loup's hair affectionately. It didn't have to be this hard.

But it was still safer for everyone.

It didn't matter whether or not she was wearing a mask – not anymore, certainly.

Hawkmoth was no more of a threat.

And other threats had come and gone over the years. But the seemingly endless shadow had come to a conclusion.

It meant that – for now – she and Tikki were still a pair.

While she hadn't been ready for the whole world to know she was Ladybug, it was no longer as critical to keep the secret from her partner in crime fighting. None of the other villains they had faced could actually have turned Chat Noir against her as Hawkmoth was able to.

Now, keeping her identity safe had just become habit.

Her life – with college and internships, (not to mention her superhero side job) – was just crazy right now. She barely had time enough to hang out with Alya.

So she was sitting on her hands, with neither Chat Noir nor Adrien pulling her feelings more conclusively in any one direction.

If her luck held out, she could make it to the end of university and start to make a decision then. Both of the boys – now men – in her life were as close to her as they ever had been.

She looked up as he halted, glowing green eyes looking down at her from his unfairly tall height, as if he were seeing right through her.

She shook her head, a breezy smile in place. He must have noticed her zoning out.

Blinking, she looked around, noting they were only a half block down from her building. She dug her keys out of her purse, leading the way to her front door.

He held the bags up, expectantly. "Would you like me to follow you up, or would you prefer me to wait down here?"

She smirked, weighing the bags still in her hands and how to best manage the toddler still wiggling much more quietly in his carrier. Chat Noir was always a constant surprise. "I think it's probably better if you come up, too."

* * *

Chat was right on her heels, making sure he could open the door for her and get the bags away.

He was sure she wouldn't have an extra pair of hands for a while. Her parents' shop wouldn't close for a while yet. Alya and Nino had both gotten in late from a very late night DJ session and ought to sleep until mid-afternoon at least.

Not that he could mention it aloud. This wasn't exactly the sort of thing Chat Noir was _supposed_ to know.

He certainly wasn't supposed to know just how close they were to her apartment. Or just how busy her classes kept her.

Or just how stubborn Marinette could actually be.

But it was clear just how dazed she looked and from the story that she had no idea when someone might be coming to pick up little Loup.

She already looked so tired.

Of course, he was still a little jet lagged from his travel, but a few good hours sleep could fix that.

It was why he had quickly scrawled 10 digits on the sheet of paper, pressing it into her hand before she could push him out the door.

Just like he knew she would.

"I'll be fine, Chat Noir." She sighed heavily. She had just set the now-dosing toddler onto the blanket she set out on the floor. "He's even napping now, so I can probably even get a bit of homework done before he needs to be fed."

He frowned, but nodded. "Only if you're sure."

Her smile was weary, but not without a bit of humor in her eyes. "I'm a big girl. I _think_ I can handle this."

Obediently, he took a half step back, as she closed the door.

But he lingered in the hallway for a few minutes more, unsure whether or not she might change her mind.

* * *

Marinette pressed her forehead to the door rail, giving herself a mental pep talk.

She could handle this. If she could fight some of the toughest monsters to try to take down Paris, she could certainly handle a fussy toddler.

But it didn't stop her from slanting one last look back at door to wonder if she shouldn't take her partner up on his offer of help.


	3. Chapter 3

Silence won out, save for the scratch of graphite to her sketchpad, for a little over an hour.

Louis had been sleeping quietly on his little makeshift futon on the floor, so she could get a bit of her homework done in the meanwhile.

Marinette couldn't fault Mylene for the name. Little Loup was named after Mylene's Grandfather, who had passed away just before he was born.

And the nickname was startlingly appropriate, given both her own love of the song when she was younger, and how well the little boy had howled when he was displeased earlier.

Thankfully, all that effort had left him tuckered out.

At the kitchen table, she set the pencil down, her gaze sliding over to where he was cuddled up under a blanket, fussing slightly. One arm flopped up over his head and the other over his tiny belly, just above the soft blanket.

Poor thing. Marinette sighed in sympathy. It couldn't be easy, his parent's leaving and being a little too young to understand what all was going on.

Standing up to grab a drink, she grabbed her phone, sending off a text message to Ivan, asking for details on when someone was going to be around to pick him back up.

She still needed to dig through the bags and find all the information that her friends had left for taking care of their son, but she needed to have at least a few drafts done. Who knew when she might get a better time later.

Her professors were hard to please as it was, and favor or not, she wasn't sure any of them were inclined to give her a bit of a grace period to turn the assignment in.

If she was lucky, she could sneak in another half an hour on the project and have a reasonable draft ready to turn in.

With one last glance over at Loup, she bit her lip, focusing in on the details of how to best drape this fabric.

* * *

Marinette felt ill, a wave of panic rising up to simultaneously her veins and spur her heart to racing.

No one ever told her a quiet toddler was a dangerous thing.

Why had no one ever told her a quiet toddler was a dangerous thing?

It hadn't even been fifteen minutes since she sat back down with her glass of water.

Loup had just been there, huddled under the covers.

He couldn't move that far, couldn't move that fast. Not that there was far he could have gone in her apartment.

Where was he at? What was he getting into?

Was he safe?

Frantic, she huddled over his blankets, looking at eye level for where he might have gotten to.

She didn't dare to breathe until she heard the airy giggle.

Determined, she slid back down the short hallway on the hardwood floors. She was just in time to catch Loup, tiny fists tugging at a heavy bolt of fabric.

Her mind raced with the worst case scenario, the heavy bolt knocking the little one in the head. To the scissors and needles that were definitely still sitting up on her desk.

"Oh no!" She shouted, only just got to him in time, before he's managed to fulfill any of her fears.

He wasn't hurt but his eyes were wide - and equally quick to well with tears.

"It's okay." Marinette scooped him up, consoling him, rocking him back and forth a little in her arms. "I didn't mean to shout. I was just worried you were going to be hurt.".

But by now, he was inconsolable, not really calming down much, regardless of how much she cooed, and rubbed his back.

"Let's see what we can find to help." Picking him, she scoured her sewing room for anything his little hands might get into. She certainly hadn't cleaned up her room, expecting company. Or certainly not company with tiny hands that could get into anything.

She felt a little hopeless. A little helpless. For someone so used to controlling situation in the chaos of an Akuma attack, this was so jarring.

She carried him out to the bathroom, grabbing a tissue to help clean up his face as he just started to calm down. Cheeks ruddy, nose snotty and sniffling. His face was a wet mess.

She felt like she was just as much of a mess, but she feared showing it too much as she only just had gotten him relatively calm.

Her eyes wandered the room, looking for something to barricade off the door so she could put things away when a knock on the door derailed her plans again.

* * *

"Marinette! Have you been checking your phone?" Alya chided as she barged in. She had a key and she never really thought she'd have to use it. But she could hear the little one fussing and Marinette wasn't exactly hurrying over to answer the door.

She could be much more helpful on the inside.

"Sorry." Marinette winced. "I've been a little occupied."

"Trust me, girl." Alya's eyes narrowed, as she sighed audibly. "I know. Ever since I woke up this morning - far earlier than I intended, mind you - I was trying to make sense of why my inbox suddenly exploded. Until I saw pictures with you and this little cutie."

Loup cuddled into Marinette as Alya huddled a bit closer, which was a first.

Alya's eyes widened slightly as she backed off for now, a slim smile firmly planted on her face. "But then I figured out it was better if I could get you to explain what you were doing with this other cutie."

She pulled up the image on her phone, her hand fisted on one cocked hip. Chat Noir, walking beside Marinette, staring down at her as she was focused on calming Loup.

The look on his face was far softer than those she'd ever noticed on him before.

Then again, she didn't often get to spend much time with him outside of battle.

"So you're just here for gossip?"

Alya had the grace to look affronted. "Gossip, nothing. I'm here for the scoop."

Marinette blinked, bouncing a now quiet and curious Loup on her hip as Alya situated her laptop on the kitchen table.

"I swear, half of my commenters are up in arms, M."

She spun the laptop around, showing the whole host of new threads on the forums:

Chat Noir has a type.

Is this Chat Noir's illicit Love child?

Superhero homewrecker.

"Alya…" Marinette groaned, rolling her eyes. "This is ridiculous."

Alya snorted. "You think I don't know that? But if we don't get you out of ahead of this - to get the real story out there - you are going to have problems."

Sighing, Marinette slumped her shoulders, cuddling Loup a bit more tightly on her lap. "Chat Noir was just being nice."

"No worries." Alya smirked, fishing a larger toy out of her bag. "You and I both know he's asked for your help over the years."

Loup eagerly reached out for the rattle ball, shaking it eagerly with a shrill and happy shriek. Alya picked him up, setting him on the floor to roll the ball around.

Marinette nodded, leaning back in her chair as some of the tension ebbed from her shoulders. She definitely needed all the help she could get right now. She shuddered to think how stressful it might have been if she tried to take Loup out to even grab groceries right now, unaware of the panic Chat had brought.

"Although…"

"Hmm?"

Alya frowned, her hand moving the mouse through various gallery screens. "It's just that I'm not entirely sure how to nip the gossip about Chat Noir's expression here in the bud. I was going through the archives for a while, and we don't often get close ups of him interacting with civilians."

Marinette shrugged. "Maybe he just really likes kids?" A secretive smile tugged at her lips at the sudden flood of memories. Chat Noir really was just a big kid himself, even after all these years. It wasn't really any surprise just how well he interacted with them. Even at the very beginning, he hadn't been afraid to crouch down to meet their eyes, to find out what they needed when they needed help.

She looked up to find Alya watching her silent musings with a suspicious, arched brow.

"Seriously, girl. If I find out that the reason you've been grumbling for so long about LadyNoir is because you have personal designs on Chat Noir..."

"Alya!"


	4. Chapter 4

Nino Lahiffe was a man on a mission.

He was also still pretty hungover, which at the moment wasn't helping.

Of course, it wasn't his fault that the stage lights left him so dehydrated or that the venue seemed to have some major issue with him bringing in outside water bottles. Of course that just meant that the one drink he'd had saved for after his set had left him high and dry.

Luckily, Alya hadn't. She had been trying to get fluids over to him all night, but the stage set up was far less than ideal and the venue manager wouldn't let him have a closed water bottle.

All seemed to have been going better once they both landed together under the covers that night.

At least it had until his girlfriend woke up in a very loud, barely controlled state of panic.

He'd said he would take on this particular mission if she would let him sleep in for another hour.

And if he had his wits a little more about him, maybe he wouldn't now be standing in the middle of a rather befuddling toy aisle.

With an equally cryptic message from his girlfriend: Pick up a toy for a baby.

He massaged his temples, slightly jostling his hat off it's usual place on his head. There was no way that wasn't ominous.

He sighed, pursuing three solid aisles of toys that looked almost virtually identical. It wasn't like he didn't have younger family members...but that had been over a decade ago that he had even seen these sorts of toys. And they all looked different now.

Harsh warning labels on the outside warned about ages.

What did baby actually mean, anyways?

With a heavy sigh, he resettled his glasses on his face, texting Alya back. "What baby?"

Alya wasted no time in responding back. "The one Marinette is watching. We talked about this."

Nino sighed, his fingers still a bit clumsy. "Pretend I was hungover."

"... Fair point. This is for Ivan and Mylene's son. He's about a year old."

Nino frowned, only now noticing that he too had a message from Ivan. He'd seen an anxious social media post from Ivan the day before and was slowly starting to assemble the pieces with the message from Alya.

He and Alya didn't hang out with Ivan and Mylene much, and far less after Louis had arrived. But he did check in on Ivan from time to time.

He had been in a bad place all those years ago, when he had been the first to be Akumatized.

Nino himself had been worried that Ivan might backslide if anything ever went wrong with Mylene. And luckily, she had never given him cause to find out.

Sighing, he wiped his hand over his mouth. If they were in the hospital for this long already,she must be having complications with her new pregnancy.

Mylene's father was on tour and Ivan's parents were abroad on travel. It really was just the worst time.

He would have stepped up, if he had noticed the message before now. His parents were around and could at least help out a bit, especially if Marinette needed a hand.

He looked down at the message history, noticing a few others had come in at the same time, including one from Adrien, letting him know he was back in town.

Nino shook his head. "Guess I can work with that." Looking a bit closer, he found a few of the toys he recognized from when he was younger. He sent her a few texts asking about possibilities.

But he hadn't noticed until Adrien called him directly that he'd actually sent those messages to his friend instead.

* * *

Adrien was very confused as he hit dial. He hadn't actually entered into a time warp as soon as he had landed in Paris, had he?

Nino grumbled a little, when he picked up. "Hey."

"You and Alya don't have...news...do you?"

His only answer was a pained groan. "I am definitely way too hungover to deal with that line of questioning right now."

Adrien guffawed at that.

"No. Just doing a favor for Marinette."

Adrien grinned, patiently waiting for a little more detail. He certainly knew a bit of the story there just from running into Marinette as Chat.

"Well, technically, it is a favor for Alya, but Marinette is the one watching Ivan and Mylene's little boy."

He spun in his chair, watching Plagg nibble into one of his precious wheels of Camembert. "So you're looking at toys because…"

"I guess Ivan didn't really leave anything to speak of in his rush to the hospital." Nino sighed heavily. "I just need to pick out something quickly, so I can get back."

Adrien picked up his bag, smirking at the eye roll from Plagg as his kwami pieced together his new plan. "Want a hand with that?"

* * *

Their hands were totally full when they arrived just outside Marinette's apartment, waiting for someone to let them in. Nino grimaced under the weight of the bulky box as he fired off another text.

Alya cracked open the window frowning at the pair of them from three floors up. "That doesn't look like one toy, Nino."

"I didn't think you'd mind." Adrien just grinned unrepentantly, shuffling a few bags filled with a set of blocks, stacking rings, and a whole pile of board books to hold up a bag of take out in offering. "And even if you did, I brought a peace offering."

Alya rolled her eyes, mumbling. "They're lucky they're both cute."

* * *

The look on Marinette's face when he and Nino showed up at the apartment door with food and toys was priceless. She looked at them both as if they had hung the moon.

His heart jolted, the tiniest bit.

She must have been busy scrambling around her apartment, baby-proofing as much as possible. Her hair was in disarray and she had a wet spot at the shoulder from hugging the little one. A tired little smile quirked her lips as she covered her embarrassment with humor.

"I would kiss you both, except that I am mess and in desperate need of a shower."

Adrien wasn't sure he would mind.

Alya came in, carrying a freshly changed toddler, just in time to see his dumbfounded expression. Her eyes were on him, a knowing smile on her lips as she handed Loup off to Marinette.

He rushed over into the kitchen to mask the blush he was sure was already burning on his cheeks, setting the food down on the table and placing the bag of toys on the counter.

* * *

Marinette kind of envied Alya's natural ease as Loup snuggled back into her arms. She just didn't have good instincts about handling little ones this small.

She never had to before.

And with Adrien now in her apartment as well, she was finding it distracting at least.

I would kiss you both, except that I am mess and in desperate need of a shower? She sighed, half wishing she could smack her own forehead but glad that her hold on Loup had prevented just that.

Sighing heavily, she padded over to the kitchen. Loup had already been fussing and was bound to be hungry as well.

With her free hand, she fished the food instructions from Ivan out of the bag and headed for the fridge.

Alya snagged it out of her hands, already starting the prep.

Adrien looked awkwardly around the apartment. "Do you have anything for him to sit in while he eats?"

Marinette frowned, looking around herself. "I was just going to hold him in my lap."

"Hmm. He'll probably be squirmy, Marinette." Alya shouted over her shoulder.

Adrien's gaze snapped over to the door, where Nino had dropped the walker. "Think we might be able to use that?"

Alya peeked around the corner, nodding. "It's worth a shot. You might want to drop an old sheet on the floor in case he really wants to move, but it should at least be stable and it has a tray to catch whatever he might drop."

Nino stood beside the table, pulling out all the food and grabbing a bit of silverware from the drawers. He still looked a little worse for the wear, but was powering through.

She kind of wished Alya could hang out with her for the rest of the night, but her friend was covering the event Nino would be playing at tonight.

At least Alya had offered to stay and help for a while to let her finish up her classwork. She was glad for whatever extra help she could get. With any luck, her parents would be able to make it over a bit later so she could figure out how to make it through the rest of the night.

She could always call Adrien, she supposed, assuming he wasn't busy. But considering she had already managed to put her foot in her mouth around him, that probably wasn't the brightest idea.

* * *

"Have you heard from Ivan?" Nino asked, his color much improved after he had a bit more water and some greasy take out.

"Not yet." Marinette fretted a little bit, smiling a bit too wide. "I'm sure he's waiting for Mylene to go to sleep to step away. Or he is getting an answer from Mr. Haprele before he contacts me back."

She frowned, watching Loup toddle around in his walker, smashing the tiny cut up bites of banana into his mouth with messy gusto. "I guess if he needs Loup to stay another day, it isn't an issue, but I probably will need to go and get a bit more groceries in the house."

Alya shook her head. "No way. I am not the only Ladybug blogger out there, but I am more committed to the facts than most. And some of these people are crazy. I've got my interview up, but it may take a number of days to get people to back off."

"Days? That's just not practical." Marinette grumbled, biting at her lip. "I still have classes to get to...and professors who won't accept 'I'm trying to evade crazy fans.' as an excuse."

Adrien sighed. "She's right, Marinette. I know a little too much about having to evade crowds...but mine are usually happy. If they aren't looking at the news from Alya just yet, they might be angry. You definitely do not need that."

Marinette massaged her temples. "I guess I can ask my parents to bring some food over when they stop by after closing up shop this evening. Alya, you posted the interview, right? How much longer do you think I have to wait?"

Alya winced. "I hadn't actually posted it yet. Considering just how anxious people are being, I wanted to get a few mostly impartial opinions before it went up."

Frowning, Marinette arched a brow. "Did I say something wrong?"

"I wouldn't say you spoke wrong exactly." Alya mulled aloud, leaning her head from side to side. "It's just that you might have come off as a bit sweet on Chat Noir."

* * *

Adrien's brows flew upward, the flush of red on his cheeks nearly as bright as little Loup's.

"It's not what you said, really. It was just the expression on your face."

Loup was busy, actively chewing on one of his new blocks, a slick wet coat of drool on his chin and his shirt. He was cooing and vocal, offering the now wet block out for someone else to come and chew as well.

Adrien closed his eyes, grinning with the secret hope that he at least appeared a little more dignified. He slid his chair out from under the table and walked across the room.

He was really, really interested to know why it was that Alya had that impression of Marinette's answers. A little too interested, to be honest. But he didn't dare linger. His identity wasn't exactly a secret he could just give away.

Marinette groaned. "So we just need to film it again?"

Alya nodded. "Probably not a bad idea. Nino?"

He shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt."

Adrien lifted Loup up out of the walker, playing airplane with the little boy as distraction.

Loup giggled at the lift, his arms swinging out without a thought.

It was all fun and distracting games until he caught the little boy back down to his chest, and noticed just how much drool had ended up on his shirt.

"Oh, no. He got your shirt." Marinette winced, popping up from the table herself. "He got me, too, earlier this morning."

Adrien shrugged it off, surprised that Marinette must have been watching Loup well enough to have noticed. "No worries. I can change when I get home."

"If you're sure…"

"Really, it isn't a big deal." Adrien smiled cheerfully, placing the discarded over-shirt near his phone. Frowning, he spotted the message notification on his phone. "And speaking of home, it looks like I have some sort of interview that Nathalie scheduled..."

* * *

Adrien re-watched the interview that Alya just e-mailed to him in the car when the Gorilla came to pick him up for another shoot.

Marinette was cute, but clearly frazzled.

They had been very careful to keep any more identifiable pictures of Loup off of the internet and the interview. Although Loup's chubby hands and the back of his head made it into the short segment as he kept trying to sneak back into the frame. Both were trying to be as cautious as possible for their friends.

Marinette very patiently answered Alya's diplomatically worded questions, explaining that she was doing a favor for friends, who had to deal with an emergency situation.

She helped Chat Noir years ago, when Hawkmoth was sending out Akuma, and he remembered her.

And very kindly helped get her bags back to the house so she could take care of the little one.

Chat Noir was simply being the hero Paris already knows him to be.

Marinette was so certain of him, her smile was sweet and serene.

Alya pulled focus back to herself. "Most importantly, viewers, there is absolutely no Chat Noir in the apartment. So settle down ladies. The kitty isn't taken."

"Yet."

Adrien paled, as Alya's final word - and her nearly trademarked wink - hanging ominously in the silence that filled the end.

Plagg chuckled from inside the bag, shaking the fabric slightly.

Adrien dropped his head back against the seat.

He sighed, switching to his browser to confirm a suspicion that had been nagging at him for a little while now.

Just hours ago, he had been anxious to set up a meet up with Ladybug, now that he was back in town and had napped a little bit.

Now, he absolutely wanted to run patrol with his Lady. But he was afraid Chat Noir might be needed elsewhere tonight.

A hero's job was never done.


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette blew at the wild, stray bits of bangs that had flung into her face.

Alya and Nino headed out a little over an hour before, just as she'd set Loup down for his nap.

Of course, that nap hadn't lasted long. She had barely finished cleaning up the dishes from lunch by the time he woke up cranky and hungry. She managed to put together a bit of a snack and the sippy cup, which she set on his walker tray as she tried to finish straightening up the kitchen.

Marinette was harried. Dinner arrangements were going okay, but Loup kept crashing about the kitchen on his walker, knocking into her shins and the cabinets.

He managed to cosh his elbow against the cabinet as well.

She scooped him out of the walker, cuddling him a bit as she walked about the kitchen, reassuring him that all was alright.

Did she need to put ice on it?

She had been quick to soothe and reassure, but she really didn't know.

She wished she could pull out her phone and try to check - or to at least call someone to confirm, but that was a challenge while Loup was still screaming and struggling to calm down.

She let him scoot about, holding the edge of the couch. He stood, moving a few steps as his hands, skirted the edges, before dropping down to the ground on his bottom with a whump.

Grinning, the little one pulled himself to rights and got back up to do it all over again.

It wasn't as fast as his crawling - at least not yet - but he was definitely getting there.

She felt the crinkled bit of paper she had slipped into her pocket earlier and was sorely tempted to call Chat Noir.

It had been so much easier, just with another set of hands around to help.

Who better than her partner...even if he didn't know that it was the case?

Marinette sighed, slumped wearily back down onto the couch.

Nino and Alya both had younger siblings, so much of their handling of Loup had been like second nature. They weren't afraid to scoop him up. They were a little less disgusted by the uncovered sneezes and drool.

And there was so much drool right now. Too much drool.

She winced as she dropped the now wet diaper cloth onto her shoulder. She knew she would need it again soon enough.

How much did little kids drool anyways?

Loup grinned up at her, a handful of tiny teeth peeking around his otherwise gummy smile.

Sighing, Marinette melted a little.

Until he rammed her legs again with that walker.

* * *

When her parents had knocked on the door with the best of their day old stock, including an item okay-ed on Ivan's list for Loup, Marinette breathed a well-earned sigh of relief.

Tom pressed a kiss to his daughter's forehead, picking her up and spinning her around once before he set his other precious cargo down.

Marinette blinked, looking at the oddly squared-shaped duffel bag her father had brought in.

Sabine grinned at her confusion. "It's a little pop up crib. We asked the neighbors down the street whose little one had just outgrown it if we could borrow it for a night or two.

Marinette smiled, exhaling in relief. She'd been anxious enough about Loup crawling about and getting back into her sewing room. She'd put as much away as she could, but he'd already managed to surprise her.

And she was hoping to be able to get at least a few good hours worth of sleep tonight.

Her father's grin was mischievous as he bopped over to play with Loup, whose eyes widened immediately as looked up from cruising around the couch.

Tom dropped to his knees over by the couch a few feet away from the little boy, setting his head down upon the couch cushion quietly.

Loup blinked, watching with interest as Tom murmured "Peek-a-" and then turned his head towards him. "Boo!"

Loup had jumped in surprise at first, but quickly caught on to the game with a grin, egging her father on until he was clearly tiring himself out with all the exaggerated motions.

* * *

Sabine was busy changing Loup into his pajamas, giving Marinette a few free minutes to head into the bathroom to get herself situated for nighttime.

Marinette smiled. She didn't expect to sleep much, but it would be nice to rest as much as she could.

Sabine showed her how to help brush his teeth, marveling at the little banana peel shaped toothbrush as she pressed a pea-sized bit of gel toothpaste to the rubbery bristles.. "Clever. I wish they had something like this when you were this little."

Loup obviously loved it, happily gnawing away for far longer than she'd expected him to.

"His cheeks are a little red." Sabine frowned, puttering over to the kitchen.

It had been a bit of a trial - and a team effort between Marinette and her father - to gently tug the toothbrush away from him to put him in bed for the night.

She knew her parents could only stay for a little while; they had a massive catering order planned for the morning.

Marinette winced as she looked at the clock. It was only half past seven, and she was sure to have a long night ahead of her.

Her mother bumped her shoulder affectionately. "You know, Marinette. I know it might not feel like it, but you are doing well."

"How do parents do it?"

Sabine smiled, tugging Marinette down into a hug. "They are there from the very beginning. Making the little mistakes and learning from them bit by bit. But of course, babies sleep an awful lot in the beginning, and this little darling is already zooming about."

Subconsciously, Marinette favored her less bruised leg to stand on. "I feel like I might never be ready."

"You probably will be." Her mother just grinned. "Someday. Until then, though, you can wait as long as you need. It doesn't feel like all that long ago that we were both changing your diapers and brushing your teeth."

She blushed brilliantly. "Mo-om!"

* * *

Loup had gone down quickly, curling up into the pack and play with his knees curled up towards his chest, leaving his tiny bottom sticking up into the air.

It was an improbable and adorable way to sleep.

As tempted as she was to watch him sleep, she really ought to look over the list of suggestions her mother had written down.

There was no telling just how long Loup might stay asleep in this little crib beside her.

She yawned, poring over the list and trying to commit the details to memory by the dim light of her cell phone before she drifted off herself.

* * *

A shrill, pained scream jolted her out of her sleep, sending Marinette rolling off the couch onto the floor.

Blearily, sat up so she could find and look at the numbers on the digital clock on her phone. Two hours? It had barely felt like two minutes that she had been out.

Quickly, She was quick to pick him up, cuddling him into her lap, but he wouldn't settle down.

Loup wasn't showing signs of hunger. The stripe on his diaper was still clear. But he was a slobbery, drooling mess. And his cheeks were even brighter red, although she wasn't sure if that was from all the crying or anything else.

She felt a growing wave of panic, feeling his forehead with the back of her hand. It was a little warm, but not that far off from her own temperature.

Marinette dropped down onto the floor, bundling Loup onto her lap as he cried against her shoulder.

She had gone through most of the list her mother left, but it was well past ten o'clock and neither her mother nor Alya was answering.

But the tiny tapping upon her window, draw her attention as Loup's cries dwindling to fussy mewls as he buried a snotty nose into her shoulder.

Frowning, Marinette stood up, levering herself up from the floor by leaning against the couch with Loup still in her other arm.

Gently, she bounced her steps, rocking Loup the whole way over towards the bay window balcony that had sold her on this apartment in the first place.

She had to be much closer to the kitchen to spot the all too familiar glowing green eyes peering in through her tiny balcony window.

As she unlocked the window, she wondered if he somehow knew she'd been thinking of calling earlier.

It was like she'd summoned him here, just by thinking about him.

Marinette bit her lip, barely suppressing the urge to shudder. _That was a particularly frightening thought._

* * *

Chat Noir grinned as she peered outside, sliding the glass door open onto the thin balcony. His baton was extended, stabilizing himself with the ground as she stepped back and he leapt just inside the window, holding out a bag in his hand.

Marinette's eyes narrowed as she peeked into the bag he carried, blinking back up at him in surprise.

Chat fidgeted beneath her gaze, his palm awkwardly drifting up to the nap of his neck. "Did I guess right?"

With almost no warning, she'd tugged him into a hug, with her arm still full of a very tiny, very wet, and very, very loud toddler. "Clever kitty," she murmured.

Chat's face warmed. He wasn't sure he was supposed to hear those words, but praise only left him blushing all that more.


	6. Chapter 6

When she looked into the bag filled with a teether toy and pain medicine, a pint of ice cream, and a bottle of her favorite wine, Marinette could have kissed Chat Noir.

And would have kissed him, were it not for the fact that her hands were quite literally full with a cranky toddler.

Though her feelings for a certain blonde model were entirely unchanged, she had to admit that she was maybe just a little bit smitten with her partner, too.

Not that she could ever tell him that.

"How did you know?"

"That you might need help?" Chat Noir shrugged. "He was drooling and his cheeks were red."

"I didn't know you were around kids much?"

"I hadn't been at home. But, all those years of running alongside the parks, well, I can hear a lot farther than most people realize when I am transformed."

Marinette blushed as she set about following her mother's notes and finding the cold wet washcloths in the freezer. Bless her.

Luckily he didn't notice. He was making funny faces as he talked to distract Loup from his pain a little bit. "Whenever I didn't use my power in a fight...or even occasionally on patrol, I would sometimes...linger. I found that the people most often in need of help were parents...or they were the ones most often chattering in the park. So I ended up picking up a few tricks."

"That's actually really clever."

He grinned, ruefully. "I've had to use them in a pinch, but I wouldn't exactly say I'm good at it."

"Better than me at least, which will do for now."

She gave the washcloth to Loup, who gummed it in the side of his mouth that he'd favored with his little banana toothbrush.

Marinette frowned, wishing she had known to pick up on it. "I wonder if there is anything else he needs?"

Chat blinked, lifting Loup up into the air. "I did grab some medicine for infants just in case. I just wouldn't know how much to give him...or if he might have any sort of reaction."

Marinette picked up her phone, trying to reach Ivan. He didn't answer, so she fired off a text, wondering if maybe he (or Mylene) was currently trying to rest up.

"You could have called me earlier, you know. Paris has been quiet today."

She sighed. "I wasn't entirely sure what you had given me. I know how important your secret identities are…"

He grinned. "No worries. My kw-the uh...the being that gives me my powers helped set up something that would allow any messages from certain numbers to come through to my phone. There was a situation a few years back that basically had us both far too clear on the need."

Marinette blinked. "So you have my number?"

He flinched. "I've tried to gather the numbers of everyone who has helped out before."

"Chat…"

"It's purely out of precaution."

Her eyes narrowed. "Sure, it is," she teased. "That's not what I am asking. How did you get my number?"

"You can't ask me to reveal my secrets…"

"Your secrets, no. How you managed to finagle my secrets? Yes."

He sighed. "I do have contact with some people among your friend group."

Marinette's brows skyrocketed. That was definitely something she didn't know. Something she hadn't been prepared to know.

"Besides, Ladybug knows you as well, right? She probably has your number, too."

Marinette grimaced, frowning down at her screen and half force her mind from what he'd just revealed.. Nothing from Ivan yet. "Not the point."

"Look, if it makes you uncomfortable, I can delete it."

She sighed. "I don't need you to delete it. I guess I need to understand how you have it."

He looked contrite. "I really can't explain without running the risk of revealing myself. And not even Ladybug knows who I am."

She rubbed her temples. Whether he'd intended it or not, it was clear that Ladybug had gotten a rather large hint. Unless Alya was giving her number away to superheroes, Chat Noir had to be someone within the hundred or so contacts she had in her phone.

Now she would have to fight the temptation to puzzle it out.

* * *

It was almost 10:30 when Marinette realized there was one thing for sure that no one showed her how to do that day.

Of course, she'd managed to fight some of the worst villains that Paris had ever seen.

How hard could it really be?

She and Chat Noir had split the pint of ice cream, and even little Loup had gotten a tiny bit, in between gnawing on the tiny giraffe-shaped teether.

They were still waiting for Ivan to call back when Loup started grunting.

Marinette and Chat Noir looked at one another with a growing sense of foreboding.

* * *

Chat had scooped Loup up quickly. "Where?"

"I think Alya had something set up in my sewing room for changing him."

Marinette winced, half holding her nose with one hand until it was entirely clear she'd need both.

And she thought all the drool had been bad.

The smell was something awful.

But just like nearly every battle she'd faced, she was going in with Chat Noir at her side.

"Phew." She winced, half blind as she tried to help hold Loup's wiggly little legs out of the mess. "Someone is stinky."

Loup had the silliest grin on his face.

One that was echoed on Chat Noir's face. She looked up at her partner suspiciously. There was definitely mischief in his eyes.

She knew he was thinking up a pun. Which meant that life was about to descend into bad scatological comedy.

Marinette blinked. Was there good scatological comedy? What even was her life right now?

Chat Noir started humming.

And it took her a second to place it.

But when she did, she snorted. Honestly, she couldn't really help it.

"Smelly Wolf? Really?"

He shrugged, grinning unrepentantly as he finished cleaning up. "Could you imagine anything more appropriate?"

She rolled her eyes. But considering how Loup's eyes lit up with obvious joy, his parents definitely had sung it to him from time to time.

She shrugged, singing a bit herself. At least he had held off from actually punning.

Chat Noir dropped the used wipes one by one into the small plastic bag, the smell dissipating a bit each time. "Not sure I can help much more up close. This little one is a bit too wiggly. Claws are more of a hindrance than a help, right now."

Marinette nodded, as he used another wipe on his gloved hands Chat Noir threw out a suggestion or two on how to quickly place the diaper under Loup before darting into the bathroom to wash his hands.

Not that the little boy would sit still.

Grinning a bit as he walked back in, Chat Noir softly tapped on Loup's belly to the beat, to the little boy's obvious delight.

Marinette smiled, wrapping the diaper tabs into place with a few good bits of guidance. Anything that distracted his pain and moved him over to happier coos from groaning was a solid delight. "Was that the same drum solo?"

Chat looked up, brows a little furrowed. "I thought you were stuck in one of Horrificator's pods. I know I heard complaints about 'all the racket' from Chloe."

"I guess I must have heard it from Alya." She shrugged with poorly feigned nonchalance. Smiling, she snagged the discarded pajamas and helped Loup to a leaning-stand against her. She turned the clothes right side out to snap over his belly and around his legs. "He's a little squirmy, but I think I can handle it from here."

"I'll wait." He smirked. "It isn't like I have anywhere else I need to be at the moment."

There was humor in his eyes-and more than a little stubbornness-as they stood side by side.

He got the diaper itself closed, while she finished helping by getting all the snaps on his pajamas settled.

* * *

Marinette winced, stretching her arms up over her head. She was regretting - not for the first time - that she hadn't changed over into her pajamas earlier.

They had made the executive decision to move the crib into her room, so Loup could try to sleep undisturbed while they waited for word from Ivan. She had been tempted to put the crib in the sewing craft room, but there would be hardly enough room to pick him up out of the crib. Plus, less light in her room meant she had some hope of sleeping in if they managed to reach his father sometime soon.

She and Chat Noir had both been yawning at regular intervals.

She was tempted put a movie on to keep them both awake. Caffeine wasn't really a good option, but they both wanted to be sure Loup could take medicine just as soon as they knew how much was safe for him.

Loup managed to drift off, but was sleeping fitfully.

She could even hear him from the couch, during the quieter moments of the movie.

Marinette held her phone in one hand, checking each new notification for what had to be the hundredth time this hour.

She wanted to help Loup, and they would.

Just as soon as Ivan got back to her. Giving him the wrong dosage could do far more harm than good.

Marinette sighed, sinking her head back into the couch as she set her phone onto the arm rest to wait a little while longer.

It was unfortunate, but she only had the one sofa in the living room. Which meant that she and Chat Noir had been cuddled up together on her couch for a while, waiting anxiously for any word.

The last hour, he had allowed her to rest on his shoulder until they both had to get up and move from the achiness of sitting still for too long.

She had tried to reciprocate, but of course, her own shoulder was a little too low. And Chat Noir was a little too tall.

That was the only reason she had ended up with a kitty in her lap, watching a movie she was sure she must have seen at least a dozen times before.

That was the only reason why her eyes kept drifting slowly closed.

Chat Noir yawned toothily, staring at the tv screen with half lidded eyes. As quiet as he was currently and with as sweet as he had been all day, she could admit to herself at least that this little nap was well deserved.

His eyes were half-lidded, slipping closed again and again due to the late hour.

But her kitty kept stubbornly forcing them back open.

And the sweet smile that had curved his lips was far more adorable than she'd ever admit aloud.

His belt-tail curled up over his left leg, shifting ever so slightly in time with the twitch of his neck and shoulder muscles beneath her legs.

She tried to offer him a blanket earlier, but he'd insisted he could do without. He didn't want to be too comfortable in case they had to move quickly.

* * *

Marinette wasn't sure when she'd started, but her fingers kept winding their way absently through his hair, threading it through her fingers. Marvelling at its softness.

Chat Noir didn't complain, just relaxed his shoulders all the more.

She could feel the soft hum of vibration against her thighs.

When his kitty ears twitched, Marinette was careful to dodge them. She knew that was likely to wake him up.

And Chat was definitely tired.

Her nails lightly scratched into his scalp, and the vibration ramped up in answer.

She bit her lip, trying to suppress the giggle.

Luckily, they were watching a comedy, so it wasn't so entirely out of the blue.

But the hitch of movement drew his eyes open anyways, gleaming green in the dim light.

When he smiled up at her, her finger slipped, tracing over the shell of his human ear.

Eliciting a surprisingly loud gasp that left her far more shocked than it should have.

Marinette dropped her hands to her sides, her heart racing.

Chat Noir shivered, slowly blinking up at her.

She could even see him blushing furiously in the near-dark...and knew all too well there was nothing that masked the heat burning her cheeks from his too canny gaze.

"Sorry!"

Awkwardly, she sat up, jostling him off her lap, sending him rolling to the floor with a dull thud.

"I'm so sorry!"

Chat Noir didn't quite meet her eyes, though his rueful chuckle set her more at ease. "It's alright. I've taken far worse hits than that."

* * *

Chat was still trying to sit up, sleep - and pleasant shock - rendering him far less nimble than usual.

"Shower." She squawked, reverting just the briefest moment to the girl he'd remembered from so long ago.

His eyes softened, as she inhaled a deep breath.

Unfortunately, Loup did as well...followed by a fairly unhappy cry.

"I mean." She fidgeted, her eyes darting anxiously back toward her room. "I was going to grab a shower. To see if that can help me wake up. I mean, who knows when Mylene's Dad might come by to pick Loup up. And you certainly can't stay all night."

He nodded, even though he could technically argue on that last point. If Marinette needed him here, there was nowhere else he'd rather be. The Akuma at all hours were a thing of the not-too-distant past after all. "That's probably a good idea."

She half tripped over the couch before catching herself. "Let me just get Loup settled."

"Don't worry about Loup." He soothed, standing up and trailing her down the short hallway. "I'll grab him from your room and then you can get yourself situated."

Her shy smile had been almost as jarring as his unceremonious drop from the couch.

* * *

He opened up the door, snagging a fresh, cold washcloth from the freezer for Loup.

Hoping for the chill of the refrigerator to cool him down. Or at least to take the edge of the heat burning him all the way to the tips of his ears.

He swore he could still feel the ghost of her fingers, tracing a line along the shell of his ear.

Meeting her eyes had been a mistake.

Agreeing to the shower had been a mistake.

This all was a little more domestic than he had ever been used to in the cavernous, empty house he'd been raised in.

It was one thing to help out strangers in the park, but in the familiar coziness of his friend's house...

It didn't help in the slightest that his ears could hear the soft fall of clothes in the other room as she prepared to jump in the shower. He'd been in her bathroom often enough that he could practically picture it. Even if he wasn't trying to do just that.

Loup looking up at him curiously as he blushed.

He scrubbed his free hand over his face, looking up at the ceiling. This was his friend, someone who held quite a lot of his respect and admiration. His stupid hormones shouldn't be getting in the way of that.

Especially not while he was holding a toddler...and wearing a not-quite-leather, form fitting suit.

* * *

Dazed and flustered, Marinette rushed, trying to get in and out of the shower as quickly as she could.

She wasn't sure she wanted to bother to wash her hair right now, but her body felt gross.

Chat Noir could probably hear far more than she'd wanted him to, anyways. The water streamed down her bangs, forcing her to shut her eyes under the water spray, turning her thoughts inside her head.

Chat Noir was amazing, never failing to surprise her. Which was, quite frankly, in and of itself amazing. They had known each other for years already. He shouldn't still be able to surprise her.

Yet, there it was.

And if his interaction with Loup was any indication, her dorky partner would probably even be a wonderful father someday.

Assuming, he wanted to be.

And assuming his usual inclination towards recklessness didn't get him killed first.

It was reckless enough for him to come over here anyways, what with all those stupid rumors floating out there.

As she pulled the towel around her shoulders, Tikki was flitting through the air, waving her nub-like paws in front of Marinette's face.

If the frustrated look on her Kwami's face was any indication, she had been trying to get her attention for a while now.

Marinette glanced over at the door, pressing her finger to her lips.

Tikki sighed, miming nibbling on a cookie.

Marinette nodded, mouthing. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

An exhausted Marinette dropped back down onto the couch, freshly changed into pajamas. Her hair was still damp beneath a towel.

Chat Noir had Loup cuddled up against his chest, one gloved hand holding the toddler tight to his chest. The last of the washcloths curled into Loup's chubby hand, as he gummed it eagerly.

Chat Noir's eyes were closed but his breathing was still uneven.

Marinette smiled, as she laid her own head back.

They had only dozed a few minutes before a chirp from her phone heralded a very apologetic word from Ivan.

They both were in motion in an instant, darting here and there to grab the medicine, to read and administer the right dose.

Like the well-oiled machine that only she knew they both were.

Already half awake, Chat was able to stir him up from sleep just enough to get him upright and swallowing the dose. Loup took it with almost no fuss and had fallen back to a more restful sleep in short order.

* * *

It had been hard enough to spring out of bed at all hours when they were teenagers. But kids were definitely far more exhausting than he'd thought.

"Just let me sleep for a few minutes," Chat murmured, curling up into a ball on the other half of the couch. "Then, I can head out."

"Mmhmm." She echoed back. Her fingers already slipping back to pet his hair.

Not that he was complaining. It reminded him a lot of his mother from half a lifetime ago, lulling him off to sleep as a child.

"It was reckless for you to come here, you know?"

"Huh?"

"The articles on you helping me earlier. I had to even film an interview to help quash the ridiculous rumors."

"I saw. I covered my tracks and didn't have anyone tailing me before I came in. That's part of why I came. I didn't want you to have to leave for anything until the craziness settled down."

"Oh…"

He slowly blinked, relishing the way her nail just barely scratched above the nape of his neck.

"I really did hope you would have called. I gave you that number for a reason, you know?"

"I don't really like asking for help." She sighed. "Although I know I am out of my element right now."

"I'm not really all that good at this, either. But it doesn't mean I don't like to help."

She nodded, yawning.

"If you're sure you've got things handled, I'm just going to cat nap for a bit and then get moving."

She snorted, closing her eyes. "I'll be fine. And if not, I do have your number."

"Emergencies only, Princess." He chuckled. "After all, we don't want to give the rumor mill any more ideas…"

* * *

Chat Noir slept for far longer than he'd intended to. He groaned slightly, his shoulders achy from the position. Sometime during the night, he must have curled back up beside her lap.

Some noise had woken him up. But Loup was asleep. And he could feel, could hear Marinette's soft, mostly even breaths vibrating beneath him.

He stared out into the kitchen. There was definitely something there. He'd scented out mice before.

It was one of those unfurtunate side perks he'd picked up with his powers. But Marinette didn't appear to have the usual sort of rodent problem.

He stared, watching the floating red blob come into sharper focus.

Only to slam his eyes shut, as he realized what he must be seeing.

A red, Plagg-sized being, floating through Marinette's kitchen with one of those cookies from Marinette's parent's bakery that must be just as big as its head.

Carefully, Chat Noir let his head drop back, resuming his position on Marinette's lap.

His own breathing grew unsteady as his mind corrected for him.

On Ladybug's lap.


	7. Chapter 7

Chat Noir's ears twitched to the tick of the clock perched on her kitchen wall.

Exhausted as he was, he was no longer able to sleep. Not with his mind running at sixty miles a minute.

It was too busy, assembling the puzzle pieces together. Only to see the mental picture all fit almost seamlessly.

And it left him floored.

Well, he corrected, clamping a gloved hand over his mouth to suppress a rogue snicker, he had been floored earlier.

Now, he was just a blushing wreck, his heart racing just as it did every evening he raced the rooftops there beside her.

Now he was hoping against hope that she might fuss with his hair again.

She was a little too good at that after all.

He told her he would nap and head home.

But at the moment, nothing - outside of a screaming toddler - could move him from that spot.

* * *

As the early morning light filtered through her sheer curtains, Marinette's eyes slowly drifted open, leaving her dazed and more than a little confused.

She wasn't in her own bed. And she certainly wasn't used to the heavy weight in her lap.

But more importantly, she didn't expect her eyes to cross and lock onto a fretting Tikki.

Her kwami pressed her tiny paw to her mouth, miming silence, and gestured for Marinette to follow.

Blinking, Marinette complied.

Or at least, she attempted to.

Her too-tired brain was only now coming to terms with the heavy weight on her legs.

Looking down, she noted the blonde head of hair on her lap, as the memories slowly flowed back into her sleep deprived brain. Loup in pain. Her Chaton to the rescue.

It took a few seconds more for her to register that he was missing the ears and the mask.

And half an instant more for her to recognize the man who had clearly been beneath it for all of these years.

Tikki smacked her mitts over Marinette's mouth just in time to stifle the panicked shriek into a half-squeaked whimper, then attempted to tug her off the couch.

* * *

The slam of the door and the newly harsh light jolted Adrien's eyes open.

He had expected to see Marinette's serene face, still sleeping due to the extremely late hour. Or barring that, he had hoped she might be a little bit awake, again inclined to lazily fuss with his hair.

Instead, he was alone again.

This is just my luck, Adrien sighed, subconsciously sniffing the air, in the vain hope that a trace of her still lingered.

And that was when the reality came crashing down.

He could barely smell a thing. His wide eyes grew dazed as he held up his hand to confirm his de-transformation.

And - of course - it was only then the usual, general discomfort he had grown to expect each morning decided to make itself more fully known.

Hoisting himself up off the couch, Adrien grimaced as he noticed the light shining from under the bathroom door. He needed to wait to...deal with matters.

He definitely didn't want to freak her out, at least not any more than she might already be at this point, but it was definitely going to be a pressing matter. One he would need to handle - and soon.

But that was hardly the only trouble he now found himself in.

"Plagg," he hissed, as quietly as he could. "Plagg?"

Blinking, he lifted himself up off the couch, scouting around and noticing the waft of cheese and the louder hum of the refrigerator.

Frowning, he opened the door, to reveal Plagg leaving halfway into a second wheel of Camembert.

"Wait, I think there's a bit more brie in here."

Adrien's eyebrows furrowed as he leaned against the counter. "Plagg, when did we detransform?"

Plagg righted himself, peering back over his shoulder with a smirk.

* * *

Tikki sighed, hovering over her still-pale charge, leaning against the sink. "You need to calm down, Marinette."

Her eyes were shut, head shaking as if to clear her now-addled thoughts. She kept murmuring the words. "Adrien is Chat Noir. Chat Noir is Adrien."

Yes, yes. I'm afraid we kind of already established that when you woke up with a lap full of former teenage model."

Her eyes still furiously slammed shut, the blush burning her cheeks. "Yes, but I wasn't supposed to know that. Right? I wasn't ever supposed to know. At least not until all the threats were gone?

"Marinette, there are always going to be threats. And eventually, someday, you are going to need to hand me back over to the guardian." Tikki murmured, ruffling her charge's bangs. "This is just a little...earlier than we'd expected."

Marinette looked up at Tikki, her eyes half hidden behind the fringe of bangs. "So you're not mad? That I found out who he was."

"Of course, not." Tikki confirmed. "Are you?"

* * *

"Honestly, kid. This is better than the movies."

Adrien stalked back and forth, his shoes squeaking slightly on the title. He was worried enough that he might have overstayed his welcome, without the very real chance that she now knew who was hiding behind the black mask. "C'mon, Plagg. Does she know or does she not?"

Plagg snorted. "What do you think? Just consider how long she's been in that bathroom."

Wincing, Adrien grumbled. "I've been trying not to think about that." He gripped his nails into the counter top. "I think it might be better to assume that she knows…"

Nodding, Plagg chomped merrily on another hunk of cheese.

* * *

"Why would I be mad?" Marinette smiled, lips trembling slightly. "At least, I'm not mad at him. I've just spent years pushing away my best friend, only to find out he's actually one and the same with the guy I've been madly in love with all along." She scrubbed a hand over her face. "The same friend who totally went above and beyond to help me out of a really messy situation."

Tikki smiled. "He did. And don't think I didn't notice all the starry eyes you were giving to him."

Marinette grumbled, pressing her forehead against the mirror. "Tikki...What am I going to do?"

Large purple-blue eyes blinked. "What do you want to do?"

Eyes narrowing, Marinette sighed. "That's not helpful."

Tikki chuckled. "I think that is a question you are going to need to figure out for yourself."

* * *

"Think she'll still be in there for a while?"

Plagg shrugged. "The door hasn't opened while you were checking on the pup."

Adrien grumbled, carding his fingers through his sleep-mussed hair as he paced the kitchen. At least Loup was still out like a light.

He wanted to stay. Rather desperately in fact.

But it didn't change the fact that he needed to get out of there...and fast. It would be way more comfortable for them both if he could take care of matters elsewhere. And maybe also get a shower, too.

He sighed, still mentally puzzling out just what to say to her. She very clearly had never wanted to know who he was, and he had taken that choice away from her

Plagg burped, unrepentant as he happily patted his sated belly.

Adrien narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

Opening the refrigerator door, he sighed in defeat. A quick stop to the fromagerie wouldn't go amiss, either.

Resolved, his eyes darted around the kitchen for a paper and pen.

He scribbled out a quick note on one of the pink notepad beside the refrigerator. "Be back soon. - Chat Noir"

Pressing it to the counter beside Loup's bag, he summoned his transformation and dashed to open her balcony window and slip out into the early morning light.

* * *

"What do I want?" Marinette repeated.

Tikki nodded.

Marinette sighed. "Could I really ask for more?"

"The guy I've liked for...well, forever it feels like...and my best friend are actually one in the same? I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it, but it makes far too much sense, the more that I try." A choked laugh slipped past her lips. "It kind of feels unfair how lucky I am."

"What are you still worried about?"

Marinette tilted her head, worrying her lower lip. "I'm worried that I'm going to screw all this up. That knowing who he is will change my partnership with Chat Noir. Or that I'll scare Adrien off by reverting to the stammering teenager I was since he'd handed me his umbrella." She peered back at the locked door behind her. "I just don't want things to change."

"Marinette," Tikki soothed, pressing her tiny cheek to Marinette's own. "Things are going to change. That's just part of life. Yeah, it can be a little scary, but you need to remember: you've already done some of the scariest things together - with Adrien at your side - for years now."

With a curt nod, she looked up, meeting her own eyes in the mirror. "You're right, Tikki. After Hawkmoth, this should be a piece of cake."

Joyfully, Tikki cheered. "That's my girl!"

Pressing her lips together, she spun on her heel striding two steps to the door. Marinette inhaled deeply, forcing her rapidly racing heart to steady and calm.

* * *

It was just his luck that Alya was one of the few citizens of Paris up and out in the early morning hours.

"Chat Noir!" She shouted. "Got a minute for a quick interview?"

"In a hurry!" He called, barely slowing on his rooftop race. "Can it wait?"

Alya balled her fists at her waist. "Not too long, I hope. I need to get it out there so poor Marinette can leave her apartment again."

He winced. Turning on his baton, he yelled over his shoulder. "I can meet you back at your apartment in 20 minutes."

The Ladyblogger grinned.

* * *

As she opened the door, the bright smile Marinette had plastered on her face quickly faded.

"Chat Noir?"

Marinette padded out down the hallway, peering briefly into the kitchen and living room, before turning back down towards her sewing room. "Where is that cat?" she muttered.

It was a few minutes search before Tikki hovered out into the hallway, pointing over to the half-opened balcony door. "Marinette, look."

"He left?" Her shoulders slumped, her eyes staring vacantly at the open window. Only now registering the rush of the slight breeze. "But he didn't say a word…"

Tikki frowned.

"Abbbhbpth."

Marinette and Tikki looked at one another, wide-eyed.

Adrien might not have said a word, but Loup was awake and babbling in the other room.

* * *

The rush of hot water had been a blessing, but Adrien's timeframe barely allowed him to do much more than run a comb and a bit of gel through his hair and throw on a pair of clean clothes.

He was sorely tempted to linger for longer, fussing until he got his hair just right.

But he really didn't want to keep his Lady waiting a moment longer than necessary.

* * *

Alya leaned into the frame. "Our viewers wanted to know, just how good are you with little kids."

Chat Noir chuckled. "I got surprisingly good at helping out the occasional bedraggled mama when one of her little ones was Akumatized and she needed to give them a big hug."

Alya nodded. "And in this case, where quite a few folks submitted pictures of you walking beside the girl in question."

He smiled softly. "I was just helping out a very good friend."

"So you are still single?"

Cheekily, Chat Noir grinned. "For the moment, yes."

Alya didn't miss a beat. "Ahhh. You have a girl in mind…"

"I do, indeed." Chat winked. "But I have hopes of purr-suading her to come around someday soon."

"Hope?" He could hear the cant of Alya's eyebrow as the question was asked off camera.

"A gentle-cat never rescues and tells!"

Ears swiveling back towards the window, Chat Noir bowed out quickly. "On that note, I'm afraid I need to dash."

In one swift, fluid motion, he bounded out of the frame and the window.

"Wait. Rescue?" Alya blanched, knocking the camera tripod over as she shouted her next question after him. "Hold up! Does that mean she's a civilian?"

But he was too far away to answer.

* * *

Though it took quite a bit longer on her own, even with Tikki dancing just outside of Loup's chubby handed reach, Marinette managed to get his diaper changed on her own.

It was a small little victory that she would have loved to be celebrating with her partner.

If he hadn't bailed on her.

Marinette sighed, helping the wiggling toddler into a pair of pants, as his legs tried to kick the pants legs free.

It took a while, but she'd finally wrangled all of his clothes on before the doorbell rang.

Fred had arrived to pick up Loup. Concern marred his face when she answered the door. "Are you alright, Marinette?"

She smiled widely. "Just tired, Mr. Haprele. Loup is getting a tooth and we were both up a little late last night."

Fred sighed in sympathy. "Kids do tend to have the worst timing in those things."

"Any news from Ivan and Mylene?"

Fred grinned madly. "My granddaughter has arrived, and Mylene is doing well. They have the little one in the neonatal intensive care unit for now, but I should be able to take Loup to see her through the glass after I take the bags back home."

Marinette smiled. At least some happy news had come out of the last evening. Quickly, she gathered together all the paperwork on the counter top for him. "There was a still a little of the infant medicine left over if you need it. I know I wrote the right dosage down last night."

* * *

Adrien ducked into the bakery, bags from the fromagerie already in hand. "Good Morning!"

"Well, there's a friendly face!" Sabine grinned up at him from behind the counter. "Tom! Come up and look who is here."

Tugging out his wallet as he mulled over the glass counters, Adrien's eyes glazed over, with far too many choices. "I just happened to be in the neighborhood this morning, and thought I'd stop in. I am meeting up with Marinette, Alya, and Nino this afternoon."

Sabine grinned. "I think I can help you out with the favorites, then."

"Good to see you, Adrien!" Tom bellowed, wiping down his hands on a dishtowel. "I should get one of the new recipes we've been testing out."

Adrien smiled softly. "I'd like to stay, really. But I have...classes this morning."

Tom chuckled. "You're lucky you missed the early morning rush, then."

Sabine bundled up the box, handing it over to him.

"What do you I owe you?" Adrien asked, opening up his wallet.

Tom winked. "Just tell Marinette hello for us."

* * *

Alya was still ecstatic, practically bouncing in her chair when she dialed Marinette.

If Adrien couldn't get his mess together after this long, maybe Marinette was actually nabbing a superhero after all.

"Hey, Alya."

Alya frowned. Marinette never sounded so down over the phone. "What's up, girl?"

Her friend sighed. "It's...just a little oddly quiet here."

"Well, I've got the perfect fix for that." Alya grinned. "We'll stop somewhere for breakfast. My treat."

* * *

Whistling, Chat Noir dropped onto a now-familiar balcony, peace-offering in hand fresh from her parent's bakery.

He tried to slip his claws through the glass door, only to find it shut tight.

He frowned, pressing both clawed hands against the glass. He could have sworn he had left it unlocked when he'd left.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks as always to Enberlight and Kellarhi for looking over this madness in progress and somehow still managing to help me keep all the details in order.

* * *

Chat Noir slumped down against the small chair by the wrought iron rail, heavily dropping his elbows onto his knees. His feline ear pressed softly against the plant stand, tucking into the cramped space between it and the sliding glass door.

His gaze grew distant, staring aimlessly into the darkened apartment.

He had been so psyched up to return to have one very important conversation with Marinette. One that he hoped would permanently - and very pawsitively - impact their relationship from here forward.

It had only been a few hours with his newfound knowledge, yet already he couldn't believe that he ever had any doubt who Ladybug was all along.

He had always been fond of Marinette, even when she'd misunderstood him that first day. He'd been almost as impressed by her in class as he was by her in the mask - it was just hard to compete with swearing protection over the whole of Paris

However, even back then he'd gotten hints of the thinly veiled strength and bravery - and humor - she had been keeping more circumspect over the years.

Chat Noir sighed, dropping his head back into the chair. He scowled up at the cloudy sky, far more overcast than it had looked only an hour or so ago.

Maybe it was too much to hope that she'd been nearly as pleased.

After all, with Plagg up to trouble as he'd slept, Marinette could have no doubt of who he was.

Crouching low, he peered into the darkened glass, but the daylight was still a little too bright to make much sense of the clues from out here.

There was no sign of her in the house, nor of the tiny toddler crawling through the empty hall.

Dejected, he let his forehead press against the glass.

Where had she gone?

Or more importantly _when_?

His shoulders straightened as he sat up. What if Marinette had to take Loup somewhere in a hurry? She still shouldn't be out on her own- not with the Chat Noir fans' claws at the ready.

But, if she was even the slightest bit unsure of what to make of him, he didn't want to intrude on her space.

Frowning, he ducked down again, whispering the words that sent his transformation fading into the mid-morning light.

Plagg peered inside the window before snickering back at Adrien. "Poor kid. She locked you out?"

Dropping his head onto his folded forearms, Adrien snuck a glance up at his Kwami. "Unfortunately, that's a real possibility. But it's just as possible that she had to take Loup back to his parents or to the hospital."

"Hmm…"

"And the cheese will start to turn if it sits out for too much longer…"

Eyes narrowing in dismay, Plagg half-growled. "That's blasphemy. Cheese is always the best when it is a little ripe."

"Anyways," Adrien coughed, tilting his head up to Plagg in challenge. "Think you could sneak the cheese back her into fridge, and see if you can tell where she went?"

Plagg grinned as his eyes peered into the darkness. "For a price…"

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Just leave some for her, please."

* * *

Phasing into the refrigerator, Plagg tucked one full wheel of cheese into the space.

The kid had gotten clever over the years. He knew that the other two full wheels would be devoured in short order.

Grinning, Plagg nibbled away.

Adrien had spent quite enough time moping and sighing over the years for his bug.

Plagg snickered. He had been around long enough to fully understand why pigtails had hauled off, blushing and scrambling at the sight of him, all those years ago.

She'd grown into her own, sure. Tikki had seen to that.

But the impulse to run, when it was her own heart on the line? It seemed like she needed a mask and a crisis to help keep her composure. At least until she'd settled down and turned around.

Adrien shouldn't need to panic. With a little time - and space - everything would set itself to rights.

Plagg shook his head, pitching one empty carton into the trash bin before snagging another choice morsel. His eyes darted around the darkened kitchen before he flew out into the living room.

It seemed like all sign of the baby stuff was gone. Even the counters were cleaned up aside from the bag of pastries he'd dropped there minutes ago.

The kwami frowned as he took note that the little crib had been neatly put away.

Tikki's bug hadn't left in a big hurry…but she was definitely gone.

And she hadn't answered his note.

Plagg frowned again.

This wasn't good news for the kid.

* * *

As he had been trying to follow Plagg's progress, Adrien's phone buzzed against his leg.

He groaned, tugging the phone from his pants pocket. Nino had been messaging for a while, but he hadn't noticed through the transformation

"Hey, man. Alya and I are grabbing breakfast at the cafe near our apartment."

"You in?"

Adrien frowned, weighing his options. That place did make some of the best omelettes he'd ever had, but until he was sure Marinette was safe, he was too invested with this search.

He tapped out a response. "Going to have to pass today. Next time?"

 _"Sure. "Though it's a shame, man."_

 _"Marinette just showed up. And Alya managed to snag an interview with Chat Noir this morning."_

 _"She's going to flip, and it's going to be epic."_

Adrien's eyes widened, and he rapidly thumped the glass to snag Plagg's attention.

* * *

Trudging heavily into the cafe, Marinette slid into the seat beside Alya.

"Hey, girl." Alya's bright grin faded once she'd noticed the frown on Marinette's face.

Nino looked up with concern, laying his phone face down atop the table. "You alright, Marinette?"

Marinette quirked a half-smile, then sipped from her glass of water. "Yeah. Just a long night."

Alya snorted. "Did the little guy manage to get to sleep at a reasonable hour?"

Wincing, Marinette ducked her head behind the menu, to mask her frown. "Apparently, he decided to try to get some new teeth." At least that part wasn't a lie.

Alya groaned in empathy. "I remember my sisters going through that. What a nightmare." She frowned. "You should have said so. We would have just dropped in later - after you managed to get some sleep."

Peering over her menu, Marinette gave her best friend a half-smile. "Honestly, once Mylene's Dad came to pick Loup up, my apartment was a little too quiet."

Alya leaned across the table, tugging Marinette into a hug. "Aww, Marinette."

Marinette tilted her head against Alya's neck, letting the careful check she normally kept on her feelings slip a bit.

Nino was watching the pair of them from across the table, but the subtle nod he gave signaled he wasn't really paying close attention to her.

It was probably better that they both thought she was sad over Loup, and not the other boy who'd been cuddled up against her yesterday.

She sighed heavily. "I just needed to get out."

Alya's eyes darted to Nino's phone when it began to buzz again. "Still. We could have walked over with you. Chat Noir's fangirls are still pretty steamed, even if my article yesterday did calm most of them down."

Shaking her head, Marinette sat up straight. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Alya."

Alya arched a brow but knew better than to directly challenge Marinette.

When Nino started buzzing again, he sighed. "Can you order for me? I think I need to take this."

Alya nodded, digging her own phone out of her purse.

* * *

Chat Noir scrambled towards the cafe. By vaulting and racing over the rooftops, he could make the trip in around a minute.

Which was good. Marinette still shouldn't be going outside if his crazy fans were on the warpath. His time as a model made him all too aware of how over the top some fans could get.

He wasn't sure if Alya had dropped this morning's interview yet, but even if it had, it would still take time for the word to get out.

From his perch across the park, he spotted Marinette's pigtails through the glass. She was safe at least. But it was clear that she was unmoving, and cuddled up beside Alya.

Nino stood outside of the restaurant on his phone. It looked as if he was probably texting a response, but he kept sneaking anxious glances back through the cafe window as he typed.

Chat Noir grimaced, claws tightening around his baton as he drew back from the edge of the roof. Marinette was strong and independent, but Alya and Nino's actions were making him feel anxious. Finding out he was really Adrien behind the mask must have really upset her. Marinette had been perfectly happy when they had cuddled up together, asleep on her couch. The only thing that had changed since then was that now, he was reasonably certain she had found out his secret.

Mournfully, he looked back towards the cafe window once more, his eyes lingering on her back far longer than he should. He shook his head, sliding down his baton into the alleyway below.

Chat knew that he couldn't appear out of nowhere, and put her through all this...Not when she clearly needed some time and space. Not since she knew who he was when the mask fell away.

Although she was with Alya, he had no doubt Marinette would keep the secret; she had said as much, often enough. It made too much sense now, knowing that she was also his straight-laced, purely professional partner.

He lingered for a moment in the alley, concealed from the busy street, then de-transformed with a sigh.

Adrien's eyes met with the somber empathy clear on Plagg's face.

Realizing his Lady - his friend - was disappointed that he was Chat Noir?

That hurt.

* * *

"Well," Alya grinned, her fingers slipping across the phone screen. "I think a distraction might be in order. And I have just the scoop to do it"

Marinette scooted her chair over slightly to get a better view of the screen. "Oh," she frowned, inhaling sharply. "I didn't know you got an interview with Chat…"

Alya grinned, as the video started to run in the background. "I managed to grab him as he was out running this morning."

Marinette's eyes widened, transfixed by the screen as she nibbled at the corner of her lip. "Ummm...what? When?"

"I dunno...like an hour ago, maybe?" Alya snickered. As much as Marinette seemed to deny it, she did seem to have at least a little bit of a crush on one of Paris's protectors. "Seriously, though. Chat Noir came through for you big time. I'm sure his fangirls will be off your back very soon."

Marinette nodded, her eyes still drawn to the charismatic cat on the screen. "That's good."

"Yep," Alya chuckled. "but that's not the news." Leaning in, she fast forwarded to the tidbit Chat dropped at the end, where her own voice could be heard off camera.

 **"Ahhh. You have a girl in mind…"**

 **"I do, indeed." Chat winked. "But I have hopes of purr-suading her to come around someday soon."**

Gaping, Marinette sat back in her chair. Dumbfounded, she leaned far enough back to almost topple over before she caught herself. Almost. "Ohmigod."

Alya beamed. "I know, right? It's such a crazy scoop! Who do you think Chat Noir's mystery girl is?"

Marinette paled. "I…don't know…?"

"I already started going back through the known details for the last half year's worth of attacks, with no luck so far."

Marinette exhaled roughly, lucky that Alya was so ecstatic over the scoop, that she didn't really notice how her hands were shaking. But Tikki clearly had, sneaking out of the purse just enough to peer up at her from below the table.

"I swear, I need to pin him down for a follow up interview since he took off half way through." Alya's eyes gleamed. "But I'll get the story out of him, make no mistake."

Marinette nodded, pressing her lips together tight to keep from screaming.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Two more chapters from here. Shock of shocks, this one went long.

Luckily, both of the two other chapters I mentioned are nearly complete, so I should be posting both pretty soon.


	9. Chapter 9

By the time their food had arrived, Marinette had managed to pull herself together, placing her napkin on her lap as they all prepared to eat.

Alya called him, so Nino walked back inside. He dropped down into his chair, fidgeting anxiously with his hat.

Alya pursed her lips. "Still nothing from Adrien? To be honest, I'm kind of surprised."

Nino shook his head. "Yeah. He usually doesn't bail on the weekends."

Marinette, eyes widened. "Wait." She subtly gulped - emotions battling between a growing sense of fear at having to talk to him without being able to say a word about what had happened; and warm squiggles of recollection from last night while cuddled up on the couch. "Adrien is coming?Here?"

"He was supposed to, anyways." Nino confirmed, frowning as he took a bite of his omelette.

Smiling, Alya ruffled her hair. "You seemed down, and we figured you might need a pick me up."

Marinette's smile was just a little too wide, a little too bright. "I appreciate the thought. Really."

"It's still weird to not have a word from him." Nino's brow furrowed. "Especially after he confirmed he was on the way. I mean, I waited outside long enough to have spotted Chat Noir out and about on the rooftops, but he darted off when you called."

Puzzled, her gaze slipped over to the window. What would send him darting away from the restaurant, when he had planned to come here? Especially when he had just been at her house the night before.

He hadn't run away until after she'd slipped into the bathroom, trying to come to terms with the very sudden revelation.

Maybe he'd misunderstood her panic? Chat always had been a little more sensitive than she'd initially credited him. Now knowing he was Adrien, it started to make a certain, perfect sense.

Alya pouted, setting her fork down on the table. "Speaking of, I need to figure out how to track Chat Noir down. I'd really like to get the real scoop before I drop the rest of the interview."

Snagging her own phone, Marinette panicked, pulling up the messages screen. She was never more certain that she needed to get this story first.

Chat's - Adrien's - identity depended on it.

"Sorry. That was my parents, messaging for help on a last minute catering order."

Alya chuckled. "I'm sure they can wait for you to finish your breakfast."

Her purse was already at her shoulder, as she slid her chair back under the table.

"Rain check?" Marinette opened her purse, tossing a few euros on the table with a very genuine frown on her face. "That should cover what I owed. If it's too much, just pay me back next time?"

Alya sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Alright. Just call us once you get to your parents, okay?"

* * *

Marinette ran out of the restaurant.

It was mostly force of habit, as soon as the threat presented itself. She was either dashing headlong into danger - or into hiding to safely transform.

But Chat - Adrien - was waiting for her.

And Adrien had lost enough in his life. He had to know that she wouldn't abandon him, no matter what.

It was one thing for her to worry that he had left her behind. She had loads of friends and family who could help her pick herself back up and carry on.

But Adrien? Outside of Nino - and maybe Chloé - he didn't really have that. His father was nearly as standoffish now as he had ever been, and Adrien had clearly been careful to hold him at a respectful distance.

It was understandable, considering. So, why hadn't she been able to assemble the pieces, when it came to her as second nature in the heat of battle?

She balled her hands into fists; her nails bit into the flesh of her palms as those implications landed. Narrowly missing the crosswalk light, she stopped suddenly and clarity struck her. Her eyes slammed shut as realization set in.

The ability to put everything together seamlessly was thanks to him… It was because he had been there, beside her. Because she could trust he would have her back - no matter how bad everything would get.

She dashed across the street and ran across the park, looking for any sign of him until her legs protested the sudden sprint.

The sight of a somber blonde, slumped down onto a park bench made up her mind for her. It still didn't change the fact that she still really needed some time to gather her thoughts. But it was painfully clear that he needed her more.

Adrien looked a bit out of place, adorably overdressed for the occasion. He was sitting with an all-too-familiar bag in hand.

She inhaled sharply before striding over to the bench and sitting down beside him.

"Marinette?"

His green eyes went wide, unblinking.

The little bit of unrestrained awe in his eyes was overwhelming, and she had to force herself to look away to hold onto her composure. She knew she had to be blushing… not that it was anything new. With any luck, Adrien wouldn't notice it as out of place.

Although… the mild panic she heard in his voice left her a little breathless. Maybe… just maybe, he wasn't as unaffected by her as she'd thought.

Marinette bit her lip. "Mmmhmm?"

"Are you alright?"

She dared to look over at him now, noticing the far more anxious, unsure stance he sometimes took as Chat Noir, rather than Adrien's practiced poise. Her lips curved at the familiarity. "I think I will be." She nodded down at the bag between them. "You stopped at my parent's bakery?"

His slow smile stopped and then restarted her heart. "Yeah. I definitely needed to run a few errands this morning on that side of town." His voice dropped a half octave, as he inched ever closer. "I needed to get ahold of a good deal of Camembert so Plagg could replenish his energy."

Marinette's eyes widened. "Then you know… that I know."

Adrien blushed. "It seemed pretty clear after I woke up to him raiding the fridge. And you were nowhere to be found."

She peered into the bag, spotting glowing green eyes and a miniature version of that all too familiar leer. The tiny black cat nibbling happily on a cheese danish inside the bag.

Marinette mouth closed into a demure smirk. "He's adorable."

Adrien arched a brow. "Don't let him hear that. I'm pretty sure the little glutton swiped a bit before he re-stocked your fridge."

"Hey!' grumbled a snarky voice from underneath his jacket. "I heard that."

Adrien snorted. "I wanted you to."

Marinette fidgeted again when she looked up to find his eyes entirely focused on hers. "You didn't have to restock the fridge, Adrien."

"Yeah, but I wanted to. I just didn't expect to take quite so long… but I had every intention of coming back." His fingers scratched absently behind his ear, far too reminiscent of what she had done herself the night before. "Didn't you see the note I left?"

Pressing her hands against her knees, Marinette fought to keep them to herself. Her fingers itched to card through his hair again, despite her better judgement. Blinking, she shook her head. "I didn't, actually. I must have missed it in the mad rush to get Loup's stuff together for Mr. Haprele."

"Honestly, I didn't really intend to leave." Adrien winced, a soft blush brightening his cheeks. "But you were taking quite a while in the bathroom, and I needed to get myself cleaned up. So I checked on Loup, scribbled out a note, and headed home to grab a shower."

"Really?" Marinette arched a brow… feeling a lot more like herself. "Like a real shower? Or a ruse?"

He sighed. "There never was a much better option to explain why I disappeared, you know? Especially when I was supposed to stay in the same room..."

"Well, I know that now." She snorted, half muffling her grin behind her hand. "But it doesn't change how much Nino still loves to pick on you about your habits."

Adrien's eyes softened as he reached out to pat the back of her hand. "At least you're laughing now. That's something."

Her brows furrowed as she mentally kicked herself for doubting him. "I'm sorry."

He blinked. "What for? You didn't do anything wrong."

Arms crossed over her chest, Marinette looked up at the still dark sky. "Maybe not. But it doesn't change the fact that I had doubted you, even for a second."

He inhaled, before gently pushing Plagg aside in the bag, and pulling out the quiche her parents had given him. "I mean. I'm glad you realize that now. I was a little afraid that we wouldn't be able to have a much needed conversation."

She inclined her head towards him and took the tiny slice of quiche he'd offered. "You have to know that your secret is safe with me. It's just… it was taking a little while to process it all. Honestly, I had never anticipated that Chat would be you. Or really anyone quite so close."

Finishing off a large bite of his own piece, he smiled. "I guess I can see that."

"After sort of psyching myself up, I wasn't expecting to come out of the bathroom to find myself alone. I didn't see the note, and then Loup's grandfather stopped by to pick up Loup and most of the stuff. It was really just a little quiet without either of you there, especially with as much as I was already worried. So, I just kind of needed to get away."

His free hand slipped up to her shoulder. "You're not alone, Marinette. I promise you."

"I mean, I did realize it… eventually." She smiled, tapping into her courage reserves to lean a little closer. "But I admit that Alya's little interview with… you had helped. Of course, then Nino said you were supposed to come meet up, but then mentioned you were running in the opposite direction."

Adrien set the quiche back down onto the little plate, hardly making a sound.

"And the only reason I could figure was that you were running from me. Except that didn't make sense… not with how kind you were last night. So that just left you being afraid that you'd hurt my feelings." Marinette mumbled, heat burning her cheeks. "Ugh. This whole mess is all because I was struggling to figure out how to tell you everything that you really ought to know. I mean, you have to know what it is like to have secrets, and that's a big part of why it was taking me so long."

Smiling, Adrien's green eyes closed on a deep inhale. "Think you could tell me now?"

"Maybe," she tilted her head toward him, whispering. "If you could tell me who you were talking about in the video with Alya."

"Ah." He grinned, green eyes now opened and as mischievous as his alter ego ever was. "I should have thought that obvious, my Lady."

Her eyes widened comically, as she sat up ramrod straight. "Adrien! When did you...?"

He became sheepish, and blushed like mad as he slipped his fingers between hers. "Maybe a few hours before. I happened to SPOT… ahem… your little... red mascot?"

"Tikki?" She hissed.

Marinette entered meltdown mode, staring wide eyed down at her purse.

Tikki looked shocked… and contrite.

Adrien chuckled softly. "She stole out into the kitchen. And I wouldn't have noticed usually, but my senses were just a little more… attuned in the moment."

Her voice rose an octave. "So you know that I'm…"

Adrien just grinned. "A very good furr-iend?"

Marinette just rolled her eyes. Smacking her free hand against her forehead as she dropped her head back against the bench. "Of course," she murmured. "It would have to be puns."

His thumb drew lazy circles across the back of her palm. "Do you really mind?"

"Honestly?" She sighed, wearily pressing her smaller shoulder against his own. "Not as much as I should…"

He picked up her hand, turning it to press her knuckles up to his lips. "I'm very glad."

She stared up at him in shock, as a flash went off.

Adrien shrugged off his jacket for makeshift cover, tugging her along behind him and away from the crowd of amateur photographers.

Adrien grinned like mad, as he tossed his coat over her head.

Marinette lost it, and doubled over in a fit of giggles.

The two quickly collected themselves, then sprinted off. Short as she was, Marinette was more than capable of matching his longer strides. However, they didn't make it more than a few blocks before the ominous skies finally opened up. The steady drizzle left only the more persistent photographers on their tail.

"Ah! The quiche!" Adrien grumbled, his eyes darting back in the direction of the park.

"Leave it."

"Yeah," he practically pouted. "But I really wanted to finish it."

Frowning, Marinette scouted the street before tugging him into a nearby alley and ducking out of sight until the crowd went past. "My parents could probably be readily persuaded to make more. Especially if we both came over to visit."

"Both?" His brows lifted, grinning like mad.

"Ummm…" Marinette blushed, ducking down further into the shadows and the half cover the building provided from the drizzle. "I kind of think they'd be happy to see you."

He was puzzled, tugging her down into a crouch beside him. "Why is that?"

"Well, they are always happy to see any of my friends, really." She hedged, letting her eyes slide closed as she summoned up her courage. "Part of why I took so long was that it was a bit hard to come to terms with the fact that the boy I'd been pushing away and the one I'd been crushing on for so long were one in the same."

His jaw dropped, eyes growing wide and then softening in amazement. "Well, that explains the wink," he murmured, though the words were muted by the falling rain.

"What? Was that?" She blinked, tucking a wet strand behind her ear.

Even in the panic of the moment, Adrien was mostly just amused… he laced his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand. "I understand, Marinette. Far more than you know."

Her eyes met his, before glancing back down the alleyway.

There was really only one surefire escape.

She called Tikki, as softly as the echoing alleyway would let her.

"Out of one jam, and straight into another." She grumbled, her gloved hand still tucked into Adrien's. "It just feels like business as usual."

Whispering the same to Plagg, he grinned as the transformation washed over him. "Not sure I'd have it any other way, My Lady."

Ladybug groaned, bangs plastered against her forehead in the rain. "Alya's going to wonder what is up. You know she'll find those pictures."

"I dunno." He sidled up beside her, all pretense of personal space forgotten once his mask was in place. His clawed hand lingered at her shoulder. "I'm sure if we put our heads together, we could come up with something juicy to satisfy her curiosity." Chat Noir winked, unrepentant. "Preferably lips first."

Ladybug just rolled her eyes, elbowing him away just enough to launch herself towards home.

Carefully, she peered back mid-swing and winked at him, hoping that he would catch on and follow. Leaning into each swing, she grinned as she raced back to shelter of her apartment.

After all, they had a lot to chat about.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Just one more chapter now. At least I didn't leave you all on an evil cliffhanger this time. ;)


	10. Chapter 10

Mylène re-tied the bandana that locked her hair into place. The kids would be down for an hour or so, and she finally had energy enough to do a bit of cleaning she'd been putting off...for her own sanity if little else.

After Loup was born, she had been a bit frazzled. But things had not been quite as easy this time around.

After she was released from the hospital, she and Ivan had spent about a month running back and forth to the NICU. Loup himself had started to really move, making it a rather exhausting trial, to haul him back and forth to the hospital with her when she went to drop off milk for Helena.

Not being able to hug her little girl at night while she was still in the NICU was really tough.

She'd been frustrated enough to not have had the room all ready, but trying to set it up while recovering herself, with Loup on the move and teething again, just made things all that much harder.

Even now, almost three months after Helena's early arrival, she still felt heavy and slow, trying to chase him down and lose a bit of weight, all while handling Helena's quirky sleep schedule once she did come home.

Ivan had taken a bit of parental leave, but with the new place they really couldn't afford not to have one paycheck to handle the bills.

Marinette and Alya, and Rose and Juleka all pitched in from time to time when her father wasn't able, just to let her get a bit of sleep when Loup was taking a nap. Even Alix had volunteered, but her job kept her so often on call that continued help wasn't always practical.

That's why it had taken her so long to start to clean out the diaper bag.

She was folding unused clothes and re-stocking the diapers with the new size that Helena was wearing.

Mylène swiped her hand blindly into the pocket. In the past few years she felt - and smelt - enough scary things to go in relatively unfazed.

Blinking, she pulled out a soft pink note out of the tiny pocket. Puzzling at the words, she dropped back against the dining chair.

"Be back soon. - Chat Noir"

Mylène arched an eyebrow and picked up her phone.

* * *

Marinette climbed the last of the stairs, rushing toward the door. She hadn't seen Mylène in weeks, but her voice sounded pretty urgent.

She smiled, opening the door almost as soon as she knocked. "Sorry, the little ones are asleep, so I'd like to stay sleeping as long as I can."

"No worries," Marinette murmured, hugging her old friend. "You said you needed me to come over. How can I help?"

Mylène smiled, gesturing over towards the couch as she hung up Marinette's purse. "Oh, I thought this time, I might be able to help you."

Marinette blinked. "Huh," she offered, eloquently.

Mylène giggled, before she tugged the soft pink paper out of her pocket. "I think this might be yours."

Gaping down at the note, Marinette blushed. "So that's where it went..." she murmured.

Mylène set a cup of tea down on the coffee table before her with a sweet smile. "I'm so behind, I've only just started to be able to clean out all the bags from the hospital trips. With all the pink, I figured it had to be either you or Rose." Her eyes lit up, filled with mirth. "Although, I just can't picture Rose hanging out with Chat Noir."

Marinette snorted at the thought before snapping her hand over her mouth. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Juleka would ban all cats from the house."

Mylène smirked, as she tipped the tea cup up to her lips.

"It kind of came as a shock when Ivan had called out of the blue," Marinette murmured, setting her own cup back on the table. "I had babysat a five year old before...but a one year old was something new. Chat Noir dropped in quite literally, as I was struggling to get Loup home with me, playing the hero role to the nines. Of course, that ended up being a whole PR disaster," she grumbled. "Thank goodness for Alya."

Chuckling, Mylène smiled. "I might have seen a little of that in the hospital. Ivan was so sweet, trying to distract me any way he could when all of our plans seemed to be falling apart."

Marinette sighed. "Did you happen to see the rest of the news, too?"

Mylène frowned. "I don't think so. I was technically released from the hospital the day after Dad got home. And we were spending every free moment with Helena that we could. Of course, I did hear from Dad that Loup was teething..."

Marinette grimaced a little. "It made for a rough night. But Alya, Nino, and Adrien all dropped by once the Chat Noir fans were up in arms. They wouldn't let me leave the house and brought me a bunch of things that ended up being helpful. And Mom and Dad stopped over once they closed up shop for the day, to help Loup get settled in."

Mylène pressed for more details on how well Loup had behaved before tilted her head curiously, "So...Chat Noir?"

"He dropped in on my balcony a bit later on, with some teething goods for Loup. And some ice cream for the pair of us." Smiling at the memory, Marinette confessed. "I definitely wasn't expecting a screaming toddler, but having a superhero on hand helped. And honestly, he felt a little bad about his fans being so ridiculous. He stayed until Loup settled down."

Mylène blinked. "And then he left?"

Startled out of her reminiscence, Marinette fidgeted under her friend's scrutiny. "He did. I...I'm not quite sure how his powers work. But when I...came back from checking on Loup, he was gone." She nodded at the pink note on the table. "I just didn't see the note, so I got a bit worried. Of course, your Dad stopped by a while later, and I had to run out to meet Alya."

"Oh…" Mylène frowned slightly. "Didn't Chat Noir come back?"

"He did. Of course, not before he was sitting out on my balcony for a little while, waiting for me to return." Marinette chuckled, tucking a stray lock behind her ear and softly smoothing over her earrings. "Of course, I didn't find that out until a little while later."

Mylène clucked her tongue. "Oh, that poor thing. What took you so long to come home?"

Marinette smirked, shuffling her hand on the cup, so it hit the light just right. "Well...as it happens, I found myself otherwise engaged."

Mylène shouted, before her eyes grew wide and her own hands slapped over her mouth.

Her eyes glanced fearfully towards the pair of doors, waiting a few tense moments before she turned back to mouth. "Adrien?"

Marinette's smile widened as Mylène hugged a pillow, muffling her happy scream. "Ohmigosh, Marinette! It's lovely."

Her friend gushed over her ring, an antique that had belonged to Adrien's Grand-Mère. "Well, it's about time, really. Whatever clued him in…"

Marinette fidgeted in her chair. "Well, I guess he saw the coverage with Chat Noir and got a little...jealous."

Until her eyes widened, dropping her hold on Marinette's hand. "I can't believe I almost forgot. Whatever happened to poor Chat Noir?"

Marinette chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about him too much. I did put in a good word for him with Ladybug. Alya arranged a meeting for me and everything." Her grin widened, as her finger slipped down to slightly spin her ring. "I have it on good authority that he's a pretty contented cat right now. And Alya was glad for the tip on where to catch an exclusive scoop of Ladybug laying one right on an unsuspecting Chat Noir."

Mylène's hands pressed to her cheeks, masking a soft blush. "Honestly, it's all too sweet."

Grinning, Marinette confided. "Well, all things considered, I kind of have you to thank actually. That day, what Chat Noir came to the rescue...kind of spurred things forward with Adrien."

Mylène nodded. "I wouldn't have believed that Adrien would move that fast."

"Well," Marinette flushed a little herself. "I was a little surprised, myself. Apparently, he'd been waiting for another girl, but actually had feelings for me, too, all along. All that time hanging out together just made everything feel more...natural once all the pieces fell into place. We weren't exactly engaged at first...but he gave me the ring on a quiet date a few weeks later."

Marinette bit her lip. She couldn't exactly mention that her Chaton had proposed atop the Eiffel Tower, before he raced her back to his house to show her the ring. "But we did have to keep it quiet in the press for a while, at least until Adrien tried to arrange what he could with his father. We knew it was all too likely to turn into a media circus. So, we want to do a small, quiet wedding before the media catches wind of it."

It was only when Mylène gasped again that the tiniest rumblings came from one of those pair of doors.

Mylène was already up, so Marinette walked with her as she paused and listened by the door.

"Honestly, Mylene," Marinette whispered. "It's why I was so glad you called. All things considered, we both figured that Loup had more than earned his place as ring bearer. If that's okay with you, of course."

Mylène just beamed, hopping up to tug Marinette down into a tight hug. "Of course! Just let us know what you need."

"Mylene!" Ivan's deep voice rumbled in from the front hallway. "You'll never guess who I found coming out of the car downstairs."

Mylène just beamed.

Adrien grinned, gazing softly over at Marinette. "Did you ask her?"

"She did! Congratulations to you both!" She pulled Adrien down, into a big hug. "Finally figured it all out, did you?"

Marinette and Adrien stared at one another, stunned for a second before grinning. "I know it took me a while, but I hope I'm making up for it now." He chuckled, winking back at Marinette.

Thumb in his mouth, Loup snuck out of his room with all the noise.

Adrien swooped down, crouching down to Loup's eye level. "Well, there's my favorite ring bearer."

Mylène sighed. "He should still be asleep for another half an hour."

Adrien sniffed dramatically, waving his free hand over his face eyes wide with exaggerated surprise. "Phew! Smelly wolf strikes again."

When he started humming, Loup's eyes widened, letting Adrien pick him up for a cuddle.

Helena, never one to be left out of the action herself, started to fuss in the other room.

"Oops." Wincing, Ivan darted towards the kitchen, grabbing a warmed bottle to calm down the littlest of the bunch.

As the door half closed behind Ivan, a still weary Mylène extended her arms. "I can take him."

Adrien shrugged. "I've got him. If you just point me in the right direction."

Gaping, Mylène pointed down the hall to the changing table.

"Marinette." Mylene's jaw just dropped, watching as Adrien "He's a keeper."

Marinette just smiled, humming softly as she watched her fiance head down the hall. "Don't I know it."

* * *

Author's Notes:

And that's a wrap folks!

Big thanks again to Enberlight and Kellarhi for all beta reading help and to Freedom Shamrock for the prompt! Also to Perdita for her help with naming the newest Bruel.

I've truly proven I can't do drabbles and oneshots, but hopefully you enjoyed a bit of my madness. ;)


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